Chapter 574: Burning the Boats and Smashing the Cauldrons

(The previous chapter was set in early May; that was a mistake.)

"What?! Burn the boats and sink the cauldrons!?"

In mid-May, when Heifu led four thousand Jiaodong commandery troops to Duchang County, he learned this news from his commandery commandant, Ren Xiao, and was utterly shocked.

Fortunately, in the Qin dynasty, messages had to be delivered in written form and could not be reported orally. Heifu carefully read the military dispatch again and realized that Ren Xiao had said "burn the boats and smash the cauldrons," not "burn the boats and sink the cauldrons."

The former was a tactic long recorded in Sunzi's Art of War. Heifu had read it back then and still had some impression. The original words were: When a commander assigns a task to the army, he must make it like climbing to a height and then pulling away the ladder, so they can only advance and never retreat. When leading troops deep into the territory of the feudal lords, he must make it like releasing the trigger of a crossbow, so they shoot straight forward. Burn the boats, smash the army cauldrons—this signals a resolve to fight to the death...

So that kid Xiang Yu, when it comes to the skills of a match for ten thousand men, though his book-learning is not solid, his ability to apply it flexibly is truly formidable!

Of course, Xiang Yu's genius is limited to tactics. In strategy, the leading figure of this era is called Han Xin.

Reckoning the time, those two kids are almost of age. Heifu had only heard that Xiang Yu, following his uncle Xiang Liang, had been relocated into Guanzhong as early as when Chu fell—he did not know if this was a historical change caused by his own presence. As for Han Xin, he should be somewhere in the Chu region right now; Heifu also did not know if he had yet endured the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs...

"No matter what the future holds, these two can no longer have any connection to Qi, or to the various Tian clans."

Because the history of Qi had already been turned upside down by Heifu. Tian Heng, who was supposed to lead five hundred warriors to an island, had now burned his boats—not to fight to the death, but for... a strategic relocation?

When Heifu went from Duchang County to the banks of the Ji River, the rebels were already gone from the opposite shore. Only a chaotic mess of camps and tents remained, and Linzi Commandant Lou Kang was leading men to clear the battlefield.

Lou Kang had fought a shameful defeat in March and had been pinned down by the rebels at the Ji River, leaving Linzi empty and nearly causing disaster. Now that the bandit army had withdrawn, Lou Kang was overly cautious, suspecting a ruse and not daring to cross the river in pursuit, missing even his last chance to atone.

As soon as Heifu met this old commandery commandant, he acted strictly by the book. In accordance with the First Emperor's edict, he confiscated Lou Kang's tiger tally, only allowing him to continue restraining the troops. The command of the four thousand Linzi commandery soldiers was transferred to Heifu without question.

Over the next few days, after organizing the eight-thousand-strong army, Heifu continued to push westward. They "recovered" Le'an County, which had fallen into the bandits' hands, and then reached Di County, the epicenter of the rebellion.

On the gate tower of Di County still hung the headless corpses of the Di County magistrate, commandant, and assistant. Their official robes were still on their bodies, and their bronze seals still hung at their waists. But the corpses had already rotted, stinking, sprouting green mold, crawling with wriggling maggots, and a cloud of flies buzzed and swirled around them.

Heifu frowned and ordered the three bodies to be taken down and properly encoffined. He heard that the Di County assistant had been killed while adjudicating the Tian brothers' "case of the slave killed in a confrontation," and could be considered to have held his post to the very last moment.

They were all Qin officials. Heifu bowed to them with clasped hands. At that moment, Cao Can, who had entered the city, also returned to report: the city was long emptied of people and houses; practically not a single living soul could be seen!

The once bustling town now seemed to have turned into a ghost realm!

When Gong Ao captured a few old men too weak to walk, lying at home waiting to die, and questioned them, they learned that the "King of Qi" and his "Chancellor" and "General" had hurried west with their sea bandits and wandering braves. The ten-thousand-odd commoners in the city, hearing that Linzi had been "massacred" and fearing the same fate, had mostly followed them—the able-bodied young and middle-aged. The old, weak, women, and children who could not travel far had hidden in the mountain forests.

A little later, Ren Xiao, who had occupied Qiancheng County, also sent word: what happened in Qiancheng was exactly the same as in Di County. After burning the boats along the shore to prevent them from falling into Qin hands, the bandits of Qiancheng County had withdrawn. The locals who stayed behind, also fearing Qin army reprisals, fled into the coastal marshes and woods, living on fish, turtles, shrimp, and clams.

Across several counties, at least thirty to forty thousand people had fled. In the eyes of the authorities, these people were all rebels who had followed the traitors, and at the very least would be sentenced to the crime of absconding. Heifu had no time to deal with them now.

"For now, there is no need to pursue those fugitives, nor to divide our forces to garrison the counties. The most urgent matter is to determine the bandit army's direction, pursue them, and annihilate them!"

It was obvious: the Tian brothers feared Heifu's ferocious reputation. Knowing their motley, cobbled-together force was no match for the Linzi and Jiaodong commandery troops, they had strategically relocated.

"Where armies encamp, thorns and brambles grow. In the wake of a great army, there will surely be years of famine."

Heifu sneered: "Thanks to those wretches, Linzi Commandery has lost over ten thousand lives, and the economic losses are incalculable. It will probably take ten years to recover. If we let them rampage through a few more places, I fear the entire Qi region will suffer unbearable misery!"

Although the locals had demonized Heifu into a bloodthirsty monster who killed without blinking, Heifu was, in fact, a genuinely kind-hearted good man.

The one thing he had to figure out next was: where had the Tian brothers' ten-thousand-strong force gone?

The bandit army had few carts and horses and moved slowly. Soon, the scouts Heifu had sent out in a steady stream in all directions returned with reports.

"The bandit horde, over ten thousand strong, is heading toward Zhu County and Luoyin in Jibei Commandery..."

"Jibei Commandery..."

Just hearing the name Jibei made Heifu angry. The governor of Jibei Commandery was that bootlicker who had been the most zealous in presenting auspicious omens at the foot of Mount Tai during the First Emperor's eastern tour.

And during this upheaval, Jibei Commandery was also in shambles. Zhu County, Luoyin, Gaotang, Pingyuan—all the counties north of the Ji River had gone over to the bandits! It was no better than neighboring Linzi.

Aside from the Jibei governor, upon hearing of the chaos in Linzi, rashly moving to purge the various Tian clans in his commandery, which startled the snake and provoked a collective backlash, Heifu believed that the court's irrational administrative setup in Jibei was also a major reason for the situation's collapse.

Although Jibei Commandery was called "North of the Ji," it actually encompassed two large regions: north of the Ji and south of the Ji. The most infuriating part was that the commandery seat was actually set in Boyang, near Mount Tai. This made receiving the First Emperor for the feng and shan sacrifices convenient, but it was hundreds of li away from the northern part of the commandery.

When rebellion broke out in the north of the commandery, the troops stationed in the south could not come to the rescue in time. At present, the Jibei army had barely suppressed the rebels who emerged at Lixia, but could do nothing about the opposite riverbank. They could only stand off against Tian Ji, Tian Jie, and their several thousand men across the Ji River.

Gong Ao looked at the map and said with certainty: "Tian Dan and the others must be trying to go to Jibei to join up with the Gaotang rebels!"

"And then?"

Heifu asked him what came next, but Gong Ao looked baffled and said, as if it were obvious: "And then, of course, they'll combine forces and fight a decisive battle with us!"

Cao Can, however, disagreed and pointed out a key issue: "Fifteen thousand troops did not dare to face eight thousand government soldiers in battle. Even if they relocate hundreds of li and combine with the Jibei forces, they'll have just over twenty thousand troops. By then, we can also join forces with the Jibei troops and attack together. The bandits still won't have the advantage, and they'll have lost the support of the commoners of Di County and Qiancheng, forfeiting both terrain and popular support. Who gave them the nerve to dare a decisive battle with our army in Jibei?"

Heifu nodded. Historically, Old Cao was famous for "Cao following Xiao's rules," but when it came to marching and fighting, this man was quite skilled. Not only was he brave in battle, but he also viewed problems comprehensively. In comparison, Gong Ao was merely vanguard material.

"Cao Can's words are correct. If the bandit horde dares to fight a decisive battle with the government army in Jibei, then they must be..."

Out of their minds!

Heifu did not say those last three words aloud, but everyone understood.

Heifu encouraged Cao Can: "Continue."

Cao Can clasped his hands: "Therefore, Jibei is not the bandits' final destination. From here, passing through Jibei, there are only three places they can go."

Old Cao was somewhat short in stature, so he had to lean in close to point them out one by one on the map.

"South leads into Jibei and Xue Commandery; west leads into Dong Commandery; north leads into Julu Commandery..."

All the military officers nodded, listening very attentively. Heifu was also quite pleased. In marching and warfare, anticipating the enemy through strategic planning comes first. If one can anticipate the enemy and discern their direction in advance, the battle is half won.

Usually, the task of strategic planning fell to Chen Ping. Whenever Chen Ping stayed behind to hold the rear, Heifu had to do it himself, which made Heifu feel that he still lacked an advisor.

Now it seemed Cao Can also had potential in this area, truly worthy of being called accomplished in both pen and sword.

Cao Can continued: "If my guess is correct, the bandits will only choose the third option: Julu!"

"Why?" Gong Ao's brain was in knots again, and he was quite resentful of this newcomer Cao Can for throwing his weight around.

Cao Can was originally from east of the pass, had served as a bandit-catcher, and had seen the maps and registers, so he was fairly clear on the situation in these commanderies and counties. He smiled and said:

"Although the Jibei commandery troops are weak and unable to suppress the rebellion within their commandery, holding Lixia City is absolutely within their power. Moreover, His Majesty is in Pengcheng in Sishui Commandery. Dispatching troops into Xue Commandery and up to Jibei to suppress the bandits would be as easy as turning over one's palm. Going south would be like ramming headfirst into an iron wall!"

"The same goes for advancing west. Dong Commandery was once the land of Wei. It was established as a commandery with counties decades ago. Though its soldiers are not as battle-hardened as those from west of the pass or Nan Commandery, it is still the source of the largest number of garrison conscripts east of the pass. It will not be easy for the bandit horde to enter Dong Commandery."

Thus, the only choice left was to go north, to Julu Commandery in Zhao...

Heifu pondered. Cao Can was right. Julu was indeed the optimal destination for the Tian brothers' strategic relocation.

Because that place was "the weakest link in the Qin Empire's rule"!

One of them.

In Heifu's view, the greatest failure of the Zhu Tian rebellion this time was that they failed to mobilize the common people. Because the state of Qi had no historical blood feud with Qin and was peacefully unified in the end, there had not been much slaughter. Though life had grown harder for the black-headed commoners, it had not yet reached the point where they would rise in revolt. The people of Di County and Qiancheng initially stood by and watched; only when the rebels frightened them with the threat of "massacre at Linzi" did some join the rebels and others flee.

But the land of Zhao was different. How many Zhao soldiers had Bai Qi killed back then? Four hundred and fifty thousand! And what was the total population of Zhao at the time? Three or four million…

Every single household in Zhao had a blood feud with Qin!

Add to that the siege of Handan and the decades of bloody warfare that followed, with the Qin army slowly advancing from Henei and Hedong toward Handan city, and you could say that every inch of Zhao soil was soaked with the blood of Zhao people resisting the Qin army. That hatred was towering and boundless — utterly incomparable to what the Qi people felt.

"If the Zhu Tian rebels spread the flames of rebellion to Julu, to the land of Zhao, this upheaval will likely drag on for several more months…"

No — it would be more accurate to say the flames have already been lit!

History had long since ceased to be what Heifu knew. The first to raise the banner of revolt against Qin had become the Tian brothers, and outside of Qi territory, the first to answer their call were the bold knights-errant of Zhao from Dalu Marsh in Julu Commandery — Lu Goujian! (See Chapter 402)

This Lu Goujian was said to be an old friend of Jing Ke and a diehard anti-Qin dissident who had been plotting for years. When he heard of the uprising in Qi, he could no longer hold back. He gathered several hundred men, rose in revolt at Dalu Marsh, and seized a nearby county town.

The knight-errant culture in Zhao was no weaker than in Qi — in fact, it had an even stronger streak of fearless defiance of death, producing many men of tragic heroism. Once this crowd stirred up trouble, their fighting strength was a full tier above the Qi martial champions.

Right now, Julu Commandery was also busy suppressing the rebellion at Dalu Marsh. If the Tian brothers led over ten thousand men charging over from Pingyuan Ford and struck from both front and rear, it was hard to say whether Julu could hold out…

"Chaos — if that happens, the entire region north of the river will fall into chaos."

Heifu shuddered at the thought of that scene.

The region north of the river in this era was nothing like the flat, open, densely populated land of later ages. In fact, Julu Commandery had been Rong and Di barbarian territory right up until the Spring and Autumn period, with virtually no cities. Though it was now established as a commandery, its population was still sparse; between its cities and county towns lay dense networks of rivers and marshes, along with vast tracts of primeval forest.

If the Tian brothers joined forces with Lu Goujian, even if they failed to take Julu city, simply waging guerrilla warfare in the old-growth forests north of the river would be enough to keep the Qin army mopping up for years.

Heifu swept his gaze over the assembled men and issued his military order: "Gong Ao, you will lead the vanguard pursuit force with chariots and cavalry! You must intercept the rebel horde before they cross the Great River at Pingyuan Ford. Under no circumstances are they to be allowed to reach Julu. Cao Can and the other officers, follow me with the main army close behind."

"Aye!"

Gong Ao was instantly overjoyed. No longer bothered by Cao Can having stolen his thunder, he immediately acknowledged the order, received his command, and departed!

After the arrangements were made, the officers filed out one after another to muster the troops, leaving Heifu alone in his tent, where the sound of his muttering to himself arose.

"Burn the boats, smash the cauldrons — smash the cauldrons and sink the boats. Ren Xiao and his crow's beak… I'm not really going to end up fighting a 'Battle of Julu,' am I!"

(End of Chapter)